BHOPAL: Ahead of the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Indore to meet the hospitalised victims and families of the deceased in the recent contaminated water tragedy, state Congress leader Jitendra Patwari sought guidance on the issue from former Lok Sabha Speaker and eight-time Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan.
Patwari met the 82-year-old BJP veteran at her residence.
Praising Patwari as a young leader, Mahajan said, “Jitu has been coming and meeting me for many years. He is doing a good job. While discussing the issue of contaminated water supply in Indore, he said that while it was his duty to oppose the government, even we did the same while in the Opposition, he was of the firm view that everyone should work together and thrash out a solution to the issue.”
“He sought my guidance on how best to address the issue of contaminated water supply in Indore. I told him that there are many specialised institutions in Indore, including the IIT, IIM and SGSITS, whose technical experts can be consulted to address the issue and find a solution. Ideally, the government should be doing it. But even you can do it, I clearly told him. Meet those experts, sit with them collectively and present their proposals to the government. Did I do something wrong by giving him this advice?” said Mahajan.
Reacting to Patwari’s meeting with the veteran BJP leader, Indore Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said, “The manner in which Patwari spoke after coming out of Tai’s home suggests that good sense has finally returned to him. The words he used during the tragedy to attack the authorities, even when the entire system was engaged in saving lives, had suggested that he had lost his good sense at that time.”
Meanwhile, the entire state Congress machinery is in Indore for Rahul Gandhi’s visit on Saturday.
During the visit, Gandhi will meet patients admitted at Bombay Hospital and then visit the diarrhoea-hit Bhagirathpura locality, where he will meet the bereaved families.
In a related development on Friday, Patwari accused the authorities in Indore of not granting permission to the party to hold Gandhi’s conference with intellectuals, environmentalists and municipal councillors from across the state to discuss solutions to the contaminated drinking water problem.
The Indore Police Commissionerate’s spokesperson and Additional DCP Rajesh Dandotiya, however, denied the allegation, stating that permission has been granted for all programmes of the Congress leader.
Just hours before Gandhi’s visit, Mayor Bhargava said, “He seems to have woken up late, which is why he is coming to Indore now.”
Bhargava also posed three questions to Gandhi ahead of the visit.
“The problem for which he is coming to Indore exists in many Congress-ruled states as well. What is his stand there? He must also explain his vision, planning and research on urban planning, especially in the era of rapid urbanisation and related issues such as drainage. He should tell us what efforts his party leaders made in Indore, apart from holding protests and making reels.”
At least 24 people, including a six-month-old child, have reportedly died in the diarrhoeal outbreak in Indore’s congested Bhagirathpura locality. However, authorities have not confirmed that all the deaths were caused solely by the outbreak. So far, 21 families have been given Rs 2 lakh each by the district administration. Eleven patients remain hospitalised, five of them in ICU.
